1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is devices adapted to be placed within lockers or other semi-enclosed containers which provide a shelf above the bottom of the locker and additionally have an attached drawer.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common for schools, especially middle schools and high schools, to provide lockers for students by which means the student may store his books, pencils, lunch, and other paraphernalia during times that the materials are not currently being used. Lockers generally comprise a closable container with a pivotable door, usually lockable, having a base approximately 12 to 14 inches square and a height of 2 to 5 feet. However, no other amenities are usually placed in the locker except, perhaps, hangers may be placed near the top of the locker to suspend articles of clothing belonging to the locker owner or occupant. Nevertheless, the bottom of the locker becomes very quickly jumbled with books and pencils, the student's lunch, and other materials with no seeming order to the stacking or placement. Consequently, whenever there is a need to find a certain book or other object, the student must plow through the unorganized materials to locate the items sought.
It would be obviously useful to the student if a shelf were located spatially above the bottom of the locker which will provide a upper shelf to receive books, lunch, or the like such that with the combination of an upper shelf and lower base, the materials may be separated into at least two groups. Further, it would be additionally useful if a drawer were incorporated with the shelf so that the loose items, such as pencils, erasers, and other small articles, may be readily accessible in one place. This drawer can be made slidable such that it may be pulled out as needed to gain access to its interior, and when not being used, pushed back in to be out of the way of removing or placing objects into the locker.
Now, there have been shelves designed to be emplaced into cabinets, automobile glove compartments, and other containers, including lockers such as those utilized in the school systems. For example, Johnson, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,690,266, places auxiliary shelving into a cabinet; Bloom in U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,633, discloses a shelf support kit adapted to be placed within a semi-enclosed area; and Hasselberger, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,814, discloses a shelf arrangement adapted to be placed interiorly to an automobile glove compartment. In addition, Burton, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,099, shows an assembly of shelves, having at least one drawer, adapted to be placed interiorly to a locker type cabinet, such as might be utilized in a school. All of the devices disclosed by the above patents are conventional type shelves and drawers generally assembled within the semi-enclosed area requiring a moderate to substantial amount of construction, and which are loose within the locker. In addition, the disclosed devices are relatively time consuming in disassembly and removal.
It is apparent that it would be useful to provide a shelf and a drawer assembly for a locker or other semi-enclosed area which may be assembled within the locker in a very short order of time, not requiring mechanical aptitude on the part of the assembler, and where the assembly is patently obvious. Also, the disassembly of the locker shelf and drawer should be just as easy and obvious as was the assembly. It is also apparent that there would be obvious benefit if the shelf and drawer assembly located in the locker is not subject to side-to-side movement, but in fact engages the insides of the locker or other semi-enclosed containers to be securely held in place. Other benefits that follow securing side-to-side include the fact that by engaging the sides of the locker, no openings are permitted for small items to fall down between the sides of the shelf and the insides of the locker and thus become lost.
Accordingly, there is advantage of providing such a locker shelf and drawer assembly which is easy and fast in assembly and disassembly, does not require mechanical aptitude to assemble and disassemble, and which engages the sides of the locker to secure the shelf in place and to secure the shelf against movement, and also provide security against small items falling down between the sides of the shelf and the insides of the locker.